


The Neighborhood

by nearlyjlaurens



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Countries Using Human Names, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-07 18:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7724737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nearlyjlaurens/pseuds/nearlyjlaurens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of stories that all happened in a neighborhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Feliciano's Neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> Feliciano realizes how much his neighborhood cares for him when he looses a part of it.

Feliciano hated winter. He hated snow. He hated the cold. Most of all, he hated his neighbor's snow blower. That wretched piece of machinery was the ugliest, loudest chunk of metal, this side of the North Pole. Feliciano's neighbor, a short, generally angry woman from Belarus had a habit of getting up very early in the morning and staying out late into the night to blow the snow around. Feliciano was not a fan of this, as he loved to sleep.  
   
Over the years, Feliciano had gotten slightly used to the Terminator's noise and had learned to scream loudly for ten seconds and bang twice on the wall to get the old woman, called Natalia, to realize that it wasn't a good time.  
   
When Feliciano woke up on December first, however, something was different. He knew there was snow on the ground last night and he was expecting Natalia to have her snowblower going. This was not the case. When Feliciano looked out of his bedroom window, he saw something he had never expected to see. There was a moving van in front of Natalia's house. Workers were moving large pieces of furniture and boxes out of the home. Feliciano spotted Natalia standing on the front porch, looking up at the peeling grey paint and the cracking windowsills. He saw how sad she looked, watching the strangers handle her things. He made a quick decision and sprinted out of his bedroom and down the stairs. Pulling on a hat and coat, he sped out of the front door.  
   
Natalia glanced briefly at him when he stepped onto the porch stairs before turning back to the movers. Feliciano panted slightly before speaking. "So, you're moving?" She nodded, pulling her silvery scarf tighter around her neck. "Where are you going?"  
   
Natalia flicked her eyes to her Italian neighbor. "Back to Belarus. My family needs me." Her accented voice cracked when she said 'family' but Feliciano didn't push it.  
   
"Will you ever be back?" He asked. Natalia shook her head.  
   
"No. My time on this earth is limited and it would be pointless to move all of my possessions back to this old house if I won't need them for very much longer. Too much strain for old bones." Feliciano nodded slightly. A young man approached the pair of them.  
   
"Grandmother, we're done." Natalia nodded again.  
   
"Thank you, Dmitri. I am almost ready. You and Nikolai can get in the truck." The man, Dmitri, smiled and hugged the old woman. She stiffened as he touched her and relaxed when he let go. Dmitri nodded at Feliciano before moving to converse with another man who Feliciano assumed was Nikolai. "My grandson always forgets that I do not like hugs. He is rather silly, but he's a good person." Natalia said, glancing up at Feliciano. He nodded. A sudden thought barged its way into his head.  
   
"Miss Natalia, are there any penguins in Belarus?" She looked slightly surprised but quickly recovered her composure.  
   
"It has been a long time since I have been to my home country but I do not believe there are any wild penguins. However, I do remember one penguin I encountered in a zoo once. His name was Tux. If I ever return to that zoo, I shall inform you of his well being." And for the first time since Feliciano had known her, Natalia smiled. She turned to face the truck and hobbled slowly towards her grandsons. They helped her into the passenger's seat and shut the door. The car window opened and Natalia peeked her head out. "Goodbye Feliciano. Take care of yourself."  
   
Her head disappeared from view and the smooth sound of a song Feliciano recognized as Koleda, a Belorussian Christmas Carol that he had heard many times, drifted out of the window. He smiled slightly as the truck drove down the street, carefully avoiding the tree that had fallen into the street the night before. Feliciano had heard the crash from his bedroom just before he went to sleep and screamed and banged the wall out of habit.  
   
Sighing, the Italian made his way back into his own house, the cold finally reaching his bones. He knocked the snow off of his boots and hung up his coat, staring at the zipper for a long time as he contemplated his conversation with Natalia. He realized that before he spoke to her, he knew next to nothing about the old woman, other than her snow-blowing habits. He was saddened by this. She seemed to be an interesting person, to say the least. He hoped she would contact him soon. Feliciano trudged to his kitchen and opened up the cupboards, searching for something. His hand clasped over the package and he pulled it out. It was a 'Welcome to the Neighborhood!' package, dusty from being in a cupboard for so long. In his haste to unpack all of his stuff for college, Feliciano had completely forgotten to open it.  
   
Finding a knife in the spice cabinet, he opened the gift and pulled out several papers and items. There was pepper spray, a key ring, several mini pencil sharpeners, a worn pair of gloves, some bug spray, and a pair of bright pink socks. Feliciano smiled at these odd, yet useful objects and pushed them to the end of his counter. He turned his attention to the slightly yellowed papers. One of them was a simple drawing of two stick figures. The figure on the right was a tall boy with brown hair and a large smile. The person on the right was a little girl with long blonde hair holding a waffle. It was labelled in blue crayon, 'Feli and Sanne! BFFS for ever!'  
   
The Italian smiled. He remembered Sanne. She was barely six years old when he had moved to the development. If he remembered correctly, she attached to him like a rather cute and talkative leech. They were almost never apart. Sadly, Sanne had been in a car accident when she was eleven, and had been killed. Feliciano remembered that he had taken horribly to the news, not coming out of his room for weeks after he had heard and barely eating. It wasn't until Sanne's older brother, Abel, dragged Feliciano out of his room and forced him to eat something.  
   
The next paper had another drawing, this time much more professional than Sanne's stick figures. It was from Kiku, Feliciano's other neighbor. It was a picture of a white lily, the national flower of Italy. Feliciano was touched that Kiku had done that for him. They hadn't spoken to each other much, Kiku preferred to keep the company of his several siblings and Feliciano had lots of college work to do.  
   
The third paper was a letter. It was a short welcome message from Lukas, his neighbor across the street. Feliciano and Lukas had very different social circles, what with Lukas being a medical major and Feliciano being more interested in the arts. Whenever they did speak, however, they made very pleasant conversation with each other.  
   
The next few papers were an assortment of drawings and letters from the rest of the neighborhood. Feliciano had laughed at Alice and Francine's arguing transferred to letter form, he shook his head at Matthias' lack of tact even when writing, and he teared up a bit at Vash's poetry that he wrote for him, even though he threatened to separate his nose from his head after the last stanza.  
   
Feliciano had read and admired all but one of the papers that were in the basket. The last letter was written in fancy script that he had to put his face close to the paper in order to decipher it. It was a very sweet letter, saying that the letter writer would welcome him with open arms anytime he decided to visit their house. Feliciano smiled as he read the writing, taking in all of the nice words they had written. When he reached the end of the letter, Feliciano was surprised to see that there was no signature. He turned over the paper and rifled through the basket to see if there was any hint as to who the writer was.  
   
When he had gone through the basket several times and not found anything, Feliciano was ready to give up. That it, until he saw a small drawing tucked neatly into the yellow tissue paper that had wrapped the package. The drawing was of a penguin. It was wearing a top hat and seemed to don a tuxedo. Feliciano's heart rose as he realized who had written the letter. He grinned childishly and hugged himself. All those years ago, it seemed that Natalia had a feeling that Feliciano would ask her a question about penguins, and she decided to put a drawing of Tux the Penguin instead of her name. This woman was certainly a character.  
   
Still smiling, Feliciano packaged all of the items and papers back up and placed it on the hutch his grandfather had given him. While he went through the basket, he had worked up and appetite. Maybe he would make some Christmas cookies for the neighborhood. Yes, that would be a good idea.


	2. The Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They might only have the event once a year, but they mourn her every day.

Today was a bad day for the whole neighborhood. A dreary, upsetting, forlorn, unhappy, melancholic, terrible, wretched, glum, awful, horrible day. Today was the tenth anniversary of her death. She would have been twenty-one in two weeks if the accident hadn’t happened. Many things, happy things, would have happened if the accident hadn't happened. Joyous, cheerful, merry, satisfying, untroubled, lighthearted, upbeat days. Days with laughter, love, hugs, kisses, smiles, dates, meals, pillow fights, food fights, sleepovers, graduations, showers, walks, runs, skips, and jumps. Days with grins, smirks, travels, drinks, plans, gazes, sunrises, sunsets, stars, dreams, songs, books, movies, jobs, bake sales, goals, sports, boardwalks, roller coasters, ice skating, prizes, and fireflies. They could’ve happened. No...they should’ve happened. 

He gripped the flowers tightly in his hand. If only he’d have been there. He could’ve saved her. He should’ve saved her. If he had just fed Tess early for once, but no. His precious time was more than his sister’s life. He clenched his eyes tight. He couldn’t think like that. It wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t have prevented it. Still, the thought remained nagging in his mind. If he’d have just watched her a little closer. If he had just sent her to Feliciano’s for the day. Maybe, she would still be here. Still be with him. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t look but sensed who it was. The two stood there, not speaking for several minutes. The sun slowly descended and the silence was broken. “C’mon, Abel. We should head back. The rest of the town is in the diner. They’re waiting for you.” Abel nodded. The hand left his shoulder and grabbed his own flower-less one. He nodded again. 

“You’re right. Go on, I’ll catch up.” Abel could tell that Feliciano nodded. His hand left and his footsteps retreated. Abel swallowed and finally looked up. The stone stood in front of him, a simple grey one, with simple black writing. Perfect for her. He smiled slightly. His grip on the poppies loosened and they landed on the slightly raised earth. It wasn’t enough. Abel sighed. He needed to do it. He could always get a new one, anyway. He unwrapped the scarf from his neck, the scarf she made for him when his was wrecked by the washing machine. He folded the knit around the stone and smiled sadly. Standing tall, he turned and began to walk down the path.

Another year, 365 more days until the town have to gather and mourn the death of Sanne Fien de Vries, a beautiful, smart, talented young girl, who died too soon.   
Or, as most knew her, Abel’s baby sister.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! questions, comments, criticisms, and headcanons are appreciated and welcome!


End file.
